The university competition named “Carolo-Cup” offers student teams the opportunity to explore the development and implementation of autonomous model cars. The challenge lies in realizing the best possible vehicle guidance in different scenarios that result from the requirements of a realistic environment. Here, the student teams are commissioned by a fictitious vehicle manufacturer to develop, produce and demonstrate the most cost-effective and energy-efficient overall concept of an autonomous vehicle using a model vehicle.

The Ulm team is supervised organisationally by the Institute measurement and control technology around Professor Klaus Dietmayer. Doctoral student Hendrik Deusch is especially concerned that the infrastructure is right. “In this design competition, students must learn to put theoretical expertise into practice. You have to solve the technical problems independently and under real conditions.” Above all, working in a team under great time pressure is for many a very valuable experience, which comes close to the professional reality”, says Dietmayer, who had encouraged the regular participation in this student competition 5 years ago.

In addition to the actual development work, the students also gain experience in sponsoring, marketing and the professional presentation. An important part of the Carolo Cup, which has been organized by the TU Braunschweig for several years, is the presentation of the vehicle concept in front of a high-caliber expert jury. It’s not just about the plausibility of the algorithms, but also about presentation technique and style of presentation. The jury consists of experts from science and industry. “For the German automotive industry, such a design competition is a good platform for attracting young talent in the highly competitive specialist market”, explains Institute Director Dietmayer.